Guide Note:
Six Characters in Search of an Author by Italian playwright, poet and novelist Luigi Pirandello (1867 - 1936) is a classic work of the theater of the absurd. The play follows the drama of six fictional, but living and breathing characters, members of one family: a father, a mother, a son, and three stepchildren borne by the mother to another man. The six force their way in on the rehearsal of a theater company and demand that their suffering be played on the stage. The subsequent interactions between the characters and the actors reveal the limits of the theatrical conventions and pose questions about the meaning of reality.
Six Characters is regarded as one of the most influential plays of the 20th century.
Fast Facts:
- Author: Luigi Pirandello
- Literary form: Play
- Genre: Drama
- Title in original Italian: Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore
- Date first performed: 1921 in Rome
- At the premiere the audience split into adversaries and supporters
- Date published in present form: 1925
- Quotation: "We think we understand each other, but we never really do."
- Quotation: "Please do not be surprised when a reality is born, formed and invoked by the magic of the stage itself."
